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Primary vs. Secondary Brain Injuries

Experienced Brain Injury Attorney serving Nationwide

What is Primary and Secondary injury?

Primary Brain Injury is, simply put, the damage which has occurred at the moment of the accident.
Tissue and blood vessels are stretched or torn and the result is obvious.
A skull fracture – where the bone is broken – is considered
a primary brain injury.

Primary Brain Injuries: Skull fracture

The most common primary brain injury is a skull fracture, where the skull
bones are cracked and perhaps penetrated. Since they are flat bones and
contain no marrow, the skull gives way directly to brain matter in a fracture.
That fracture often immediately injures the brain inside.

Secondary Brain Injuries

But many people who die as a result of brain injury do not do so immediately.
A large percentage of those with TBI die days or even weeks after the
injury. In fact, nearly 40% of brain injury patients who are not hospitalized
will die some time after the event due to secondary brain injury. In secondary
injury, a complex process of cellular degeneration and deterioration occur.
Secondary deterioration may start immediately or may take a few days to begin.

Secondary injuries common to TBI victims are:

Free Radical Overload

Neurotransmitter Glutamate

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Hypoxia

Edema

Free Radical Overload

A free radical is either an ion, a molecule or an atom that has what are
called “dangling” bonds. The upshot is that these bonds allow
the highly chemically reactive ions to change when they come into contact
with other dangling ions, molecules or atoms. Free radicals are important
in that they change and eventually control vascular tone and blood pressure.
But free radicals play an important role in a number of biological processes
that occur within the brain, such as the intracellular killing of bacteria.
Essentially, free radicals police cells within the brain. In an injury,
they can change and harm proper brain function.

Probably the most important free radicals are based on oxygen, and when
they are altered, they can become hyperactive, which can result in cell
damage. Excessive amounts of free radicals can lead to cell injury, which
may contribute to stroke and death. Free radicals are linked to Parkinson’s
disease, senility, Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Movement
disorders, psychosis, deafness, among other ailments are also possible
with free radical overload. These are often triggered by a traumatic brain injury.

Neurotransmitter Glutamate

Glutamate is derived from amino acids from our diet that control certain
synapses in the brain. In other words, the brain functions autonomously
via these substances that vary the reactions in the brain. Their function
is varied and quite complex. To sum up the problem, when the glutamate
level in the brain changes – specifically, when it rises –
it can lead to what is called excitotixicity, which essentially over-stimulates
the brain. That can cause cell death and lead to stroke, seizures or eventual
death. It can also be a leading cause of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease,
Parkinson’s disease and Huntington disease.

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a bleeding in the subarachnoid space, which
is the space between the pia mater and the arachnoid membrane as a result
of a blunt head trauma. Symptoms of a subarachnoid hemorrhage usually
begin with a very rapid and very serious headache that often comes on
within minutes – with the possibility of the victim both vomiting
and undergoing seizures. Although many subarachnoid hemorrhages are caused
by stroke, they are also cause by head injury as well.

The classic subarachnoid hemorrhage is often fatal, with up to half of
those afflicted ending in mortality. The symptoms of this dangerous condition
are often loss of papillary light reflexes – meaning the pupils
don’t dilate or contract correctly; or possible bleeding into the
eyeball is present. With this onset, the body will often try to compensate
and blood pressure will increase, which exacerbates the injury. Immediate
medical attention is required, and subarachnoid blood can be detected
on a CAT scan in most cases. Obviously, subarachnoid hemorrhage usually
occurs near the site of the traumatic injury so diagnosis of the location
of the injury is typically straightforward.

Hypoxia

Hypoxia occurs when the brain is deprived of adequate oxygen. Mountain
climbers are often afflicted by hypoxia. But hypoxia also occurs in a
traumatic brain injury when the brain is not able to get enough oxygen
through a disruption in blood flow. The symptoms of a mountain climber
and a person who was struck in the head and has a traumatic injury are
the same: they will have nausea, confusion, disorientation, behavioral
change, headaches, possible hallucinations and a reduced level of consciousness.

Since tissue needs oxygen, and oxygen is infused into the blood through
the lungs and heart, the problem may be as a result of a cascade of afflictions
or as a result solely of a blunt-force trauma that affect one area –
the brain. The specific problem is actually labeled ischaemia, or insufficient
blood flow to brain tissue (or other tissues in other parts of the body).
Problems can also arise when the cells in the brain are starved for oxygen
and they eventually convert themselves to lactic acid, which will eventually
lead to cell death and permanent brain damage.

Adema

There are various forms of edema – vasogenic, hydrostatic, high-altitude,
among others — but the focus here will be what is known as vasogenic
edema. Vasogenic edema is a breakdown of the junctions which constitute
the blood-brain barrier. Certain proteins and fluid end up penetrating
the blood-brain barrier and cause an inflammation of the brain itself.
This can not only be a fast-acting affliction, but it is quite dangerous
and needs immediate intervention. A second type of trauma can also occur,
called cytotoxic edema, in which case the blood-brain barrier remains
intact, but cellular degeneration occurs as a result of trauma and impairment
of the function of sodium and potassium balance eventually leads to sodium
retention and, like any sodium retention, the brain swells. Typically,
cytotoxic occurs with vasogenic edema, and cytotoxic edema is typical
after an injury.

Common Problems

In addition, brain injuries often occur in combination with one another.
The effects of brain injury depend upon the amount of brain tissue damaged
and the level of pressure within the skull and its effects on the brain.

Some of these may problems may be medically alleviated. Financially, however,
it will likely be a difficult process. Any relief from the situation will
likely be critical. Having an attorney with a focus in brain injury litigation
is critical in providing you the opportunity to get the financial compensation
you deserve. You will not pay a thing unless you win your lawsuit. If
you win or settle your lawsuit,
The Doan Law Firm will charge a percentage of the compensation amount, leaving you free
from the costs of the actual court case.

The Doan Law Firm can assist in determining damages owed you after a brain
injury. The Doan Law Firm knows that although accidents don’t wait
for daylight hours to happen. However, we’re available to answer
your phone
contact us any time, day or night, at
(800) 349-0000.

After an accident, the responsible party's insurance company may try
to reduce the claim amount. Commonly, insurance adjusters are trained
to get information from the
injured to assist in reducing the claim. Though some insurers are less guilty
of this practice than others, it is important to realize that insurance
companies are profit-oriented corporations and reducing claims results
in increased profits for shareholders. This can create a situation for
the injured in which they are offered a settlement that does not truly
reflect the damages suffered. If you accept this settlement, you lose
the ability to get more money should your injuries require further medical
treatments. It is critical that victims get legal assistance in any personal
injury case, and
The Doan Law Firm is prepared to fight relentlessly for your rights.